Combined aluminum heel and arch support



April 15, 1924. 7 1,490,800

A. COHN COMBINED ALUMINUM HEEL AND ARCH SUPPORT Filed Dec. 27. 1921' Sill Patented Apr. id, 1924!.

. .STA ES ABRAHAM (JOHN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

CGMBINED ALUMINUM HEEL AND ARCH SUPEORT.

Application filed December 2?, 1921. Serial No. 52%,879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, ABRAHAM Conn, owing allegiance to the Republic of Poland, residing in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Combined Aluminum Heel and Arch Support, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to a combined aluminum heel shank support and arch support, and, is a distinct and practical improvement to overcome certain important and practical objections to, and defects in, heels now employed in the manufacture of both ladies and mens shoes.

An object of my present invention is to provide a hollow aluminum shell with a wooden filler, or plug to permit the heel to be glued and then nailed to the inner sole of the shoe in the usual and customary way that wooden heels are applied to shoes.

A further object is to eliminate the usual leather plug receiving socket in the tread end of an aluminum heel by casting the lower or tread wall very thin so that the nails may be driven through the wall and anchored in the wooden filler plug of the heel for retaining the tread lift or lifts in position.

A further object of the invention is to provide the heel with an integral forwardly and downwardly directed shank stifi'ener which may be made very thin to eliminate the necessity of extending a half sole to the breast of the heel or further, thereby saving outer sole material and labor as well as providing a light, but substantial shank stiffener for the shoe.

I A still further object of the invention is to employ a resilient member which is preferably removably fixed at one end to the filler plug and near its opposite end to the integral shank stifiener of the heel toprovide a resilient bridged arch support for the shoe.

A still further object of the invention'is to extend the forward end of the resilient arch support beyond the forward edge of the shank stifiener, which is integral with'the heel so that a half sole may abut the forward edge of the integral shank stiffener and be nailed to the extended end of the resilient arch support.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel features of construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter I more fully described and finally pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

ilteferring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, wherein like characters of reference denote similar parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1, is a sectional view of a heel, constructed in accordance with my invention, showing its application to a shoe and the outer sole thereof to the heel.

Fig. 2, is a side elevation of my improved heel with a portion thereof broken away to show the resilient arch support forming a part thereof. I

Fig. 3, is a top plan view of a heel constructed in accordance with my invention.

in carrying out the aim of my present invention, I employ a suitable shaped aluminum heel 1 having a socket 2, the upper end of which is open. The lower end of the heel 1 is closed by means of the tread wall 3.

The socket 2 is filled by means of a suitable wooden filler plug 4-, which extends from the open end of the socket to the tread wall 3. The tread wall 3 is sui'iiciently thin to permit nails 5 to be driven through the aluminum tread wall 3 and into the wooden plug t to hold the tread lift, or lifts 6 in position, as is manifest. In this manner, tread lifts are positively anchored to the heel, whereas, with an aluminum heel provided with the usual tread socket filled with a leather plug, the tread lift is very easily displaced, and, further it has been a serious problem as to the best means to employ to i hold the anchor plug in its socket. These difficulties and objections, l have entirely eliminated, as the nails are driven into a solid bod which firmly anchors them, as is manifest.

A non-resilient integral shank stiffener 7 extends forwardly and downwardly from the upper edge of the breast of the heel 1. This support is relatively long and is longitudinally curved and the upper face thereof is also transversely curved to provide a concaved upper surface.

Spanning, or bridging the non-resilient shank stiffener 7 is a resilient arch su ort 8. This support is mounted longitu inally of the non-resilient shank stiffener 7 and is fixed at its rear end to the wooden plug t by means of a suitable fastener, such as a screw 9, and 'near its forward end it is suitably fixed to the non-resilient shank stifi its ener 7 by means of a suitable fastener 10. The resilient support 8 is arched so as to engage the shank stiffener only near its forward end and the wooden plug at its rear end. The forward end of the resilient arch support is preferably broadened to form a head 11 of a width substantially equal to the width of the non-resilient shank stiffener 7. A portion of the broadened end 11 of the resilient arch support 8 overlaps the forward edge of the non-resilient shank stiffener, as at 12. A half sole 13 is fixed at its rear edge to the overlapping portion 12 of the resilient arch support 11 by means of suitable fasteners, such as nails 14:, which pass through the openings 15 of the overlapping portion 12. The rear edge of the sole 13 abuts the forward edge of the nonresilient shank stifi'ener which acts as a gauge and stop for the sole. It will be here observed, that the non-resilient shank stiffener serves the double function of shank stiffener and eliminates an amount of half sole leather equal to the length of the nonresilient shank stiffener. The resilient arch support serves as a cushion for the arch of the foot and this spans, or bridges the nonresilient shank stiffener owing to its being arched and anchored at one end to the nonresilient shank stiffener and at its opposite end to the wooden filler plug.

The non-resilient shank stifi'ener 7 is pro vided along its side edges with a plurality of openings 16 through which nails 17 pass when being driven into the inner sole 18 in applying the heel to a shoe. The heel is first glued to the shoe in the usual manner as when applying wooden heels to shoes and then nailed thereto in one of the final operations upon the shoe.

It is evident from the foregoing descrip tion that a heel constructed along the lines herein described may be used either for ladies, or mens shoes by merely changing the shape, or design of the body, or shell of the heel.

The many advantages of the herein described invention will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art to which it appertains.

. I do not desire to be understood as limiting myself to the exact details of constructlon and arrangement as herein described and illustrated, as it is manifest that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention and the terms of the following claims, hence I wish it to be understood that I reserve the right to make any such changes, or modifications as may fairly fall within the scope of the appended claims when fairly construed.

What I claim'is:

1. A heel for shoes comprising an aluminum body havmg a socket which is open at aaeonoo its upper end, a fibrous plug for said socket, a non-resilient shank stiffener extending forwardly from the breast of the heel, a resilient arch support bridging the shank stiffener, the forward end of said resilient arch support extending beyond the forward edge of said shank stifiener and having a half sole attachedto it.

2. A heel for shoes comprising an aluminum body having a socket which is open at its upper end, a fibrous plug for said socket, a non-resilient shank stiffener extending forwardly from the breast of the heel, a resilient arch support bridging the shank stiffener, said arch support being fixed at one end to the fibrous plug and near its opposite end to the forward end of the shank stiffener and the forward end of said resilient arch support being broadened laterally and extending beyond the forward edge of the shank stiffener and having a half-sole attached to it.

3. An aluminum heel for shoes comprising a hollow shell having a closed lower end and an open upper end, a fibrous filler plug for said hollow shell, a shank stiffener extending forwardly from the breast of the heel, a resilient arch support fixed at its forward end to the forward end of the shank stiffener and at its opposite end to the fibrous filler plug, said arch support being arched so as to bridge the shank stiffener and the forward end of said resilient arch support extending beyond the forward edge of the shank stiffener and having a half-sole attached to it.

4. A heel for shoes comprising an aluminum body, a non-resilient shank stifi'ener integral with the breast of the heel and extending forwardly and downwardly there from and having its upper surface longitudinally and transversely curved and a resilient arch support bridging the shank stiffener, the forward end of which arch support extends beyond the forward edge of the shank stiffener and has a half-sole attached to it.

5. A heel for shoes comprising an aluminum body, a non-resilient shank stiffener integral with the breast of the heel and extending forwardly and downwardly therefrom and a resilient arch support bridging the shank stiffener, the forward end of which extends beyond the shank stiffener and has a half-sole attached to it.

6. Incombination with a shoe having an inner sole and an outer sole, a combined metallic heel and shank support therefor comprising an aluminum shell having a socket therein, said socket being open at its upper end and closed at its tread end by means of a thin nail penetrating wall which is integral with the shell, a fibrous plug fixed within the socket and completely filling the socket so that the heel may be afixed to the shoe by means of both glue and nails, tread lifts applied to the closed tread end of the heel and lined t0 the thin Wall thereof by means of nails Which penetrate said thin Wall and anchor themselves in the fibrous plug for securely fixing the tread lifts to the heel, a forwardly and downwardly directed shank stiffener integral With the upper edge of the breast of the shell, means for anchoring the shank stillener along its side edges to the inner sole of the shoe, a resilient arch support bridging the shank stifiener, means for fixing one end of the resilient arch support to the plug and the 0pposite end thereof to the shank stifi'ener to prevent displacement thereof, the forward end of said shank stifiener extending beyond the forward edge of the shank support and means for lining the extended edge of the resilient arch support to both the inner and outer soles of the shoe intermediate the same. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name to the specification.

ABRAHAM COHN. 

